California State Teachers Retirement System Acquires 48,312,092 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 15,681.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,620,175 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,312,092 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.25% of NetApp worth $7,524,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 759 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $315,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in NetApp by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 46,792 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $4,986,000 after acquiring an additional 4,232 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in NetApp by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 24,301 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,589,000 after acquiring an additional 1,662 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,161 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after buying an additional 2,277 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NTAP stock opened at $189.13 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $180.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.34. NetApp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.69 and a 12-month high of $209.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $37.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.44.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.46. NetApp had a net margin of 19.18% and a return on equity of 119.13%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 9.730-10.030 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 2.540-2.640 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NTAP. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday. Northland Securities boosted their price objective on NetApp from $171.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on NetApp from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.82, for a total transaction of $7,658,016.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 46,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,246,504.92. This represents a 51.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total value of $193,820.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,872,164.54. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 54,072 shares of company stock worth $8,556,040 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

About NetApp

NetApp, Inc (NASDAQ: NTAP) is a data management and storage company that delivers hybrid cloud data services for applications and data. Founded in 1992 as Network Appliance and rebranded as NetApp in 2008, the company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. NetApp’s offering focuses on enabling organizations to store, manage, protect and move data across on-premises environments and major public clouds.

The company’s product portfolio centers on the ONTAP data management software and a range of storage systems and services built around it.